


Cocktailed! - In Which We Adopt a Son

by perringwrites



Category: Original Work
Genre: Fluff, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-08
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-09-13 14:58:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16894758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perringwrites/pseuds/perringwrites
Summary: The Cocktailed! crew accidentally adopt a son. Soft and fluffy, with lots of love.Mirrored from Wattpad.





	1. Not Kidnapping

They were distracted. They were looking at a selection of scarves hung over the stall's entrance, glittering magenta under the Martian sun. Blade got that. The red of the scarves would have really brought out their skin, and it was the same shade as the one they were wearing now. As a matter of fact, that scarf was the reason he was here. Here was a person with money. And they were distracted. Just a quick in and out without them noticing and--

Oh. Oh no.

"Hey Dani?" The speaker was a tall man, with long hair. He was holding a few bags of produce. And he was looking right at Blade.

That wasn't the problem, actually. He got caught, and that was fine. Usually he could outrun them. Sometimes, he still got something out of it. No, the problem wasn't the man, it was that he couldn't move.

His goddamn arm. He had just gotten it repaired, didn't he? And all that money for what? To have it frozen at the exact moment that it shouldn't have? He was going to have a few words once he got out of this mess.

The one with the scarf turned to the tall man. "Yeah?" they asked. If Blade could just get his hand out of their bag--

The tall man nodded right at him. The one with the scarf looked at him. Blade, if it was possible, froze even more. His eyes widened.

"Oh," said the one with the scarf.

"Uh," said Blade.

And then, he yelled. It was a sharp pain, no more painful than it usually was, but it came so sudden and in such a terrible moment that Blade had to remind himself that this was something that he wanted to happen. This meant that he could move his arm now. It would hurt until he had it fixed, and he couldn't really use it, but he could run. He was still clinging to his arm, getting the pain to subside, getting ready to book it, when--

"Oh no, are you okay?" The one with the scarf asked. Blade stopped. What? He had stolen from a lot of people, sure, but this was new. They were surprised, angry, scared even. But this, tis was new.

And then the tall man said, "You okay, kid?" He set his bags down, and approached Blade.

Blade, in his complete and utter confusion, forgot that he was going to run. With all the concerned questions sent his way, he was sure that these two wouldn't send him to the police anyway. At least, not immediately. Whatever was going on, Blade could stick around for it, until at least they send him off to jail.

The tall man stooped down. "Can I see your hand?" he asked.

Blade just stared at him.

"It's alright," he said. "I'll just take a look."

Blade, despite himself, reached out his hand. The man turned it around, very quickly, as if he didn't want to bother Blade any more than he already was.

He was too busy looking at his hand being examined that he didn't notice someone approach them, until his shadow obscured their view. The tall man looked up, and smiled. "You're blocking the light, Archie."

"Oh!" said the man. "Sorry." He took a few steps back to the side, just beside the one with the scarf. He had a shopping bag in one hand and food in the other, which he and the one with the scarf seemed to be talking about. It looked like fries.

Blade's stomach gave a loud growl.

"Hm," said the man fixing his arm.

Blade stiffened.

"Archie," the man said. "Would you look at this?"

The larger man, Archie, came closer. He peered over at the arm. It was then that Blade noticed that he too had a metal arm. It was his right. "Hm," Archie said much in the same way that the taller man did. "Hey, kid, what's your name?"

He asked this with a smile, and Blade just stared at him, completely and utterly bewildered.

"Okay, I guess you're a quiet type."

"I stole from you," Blade said. "What the hell."

"Hey, language," said the one with the scarf. Then, as if catchign themselves, they added, "If you needed something you could have just asked, you know."

Blade opened his mouth to say that that wasn't actually a thing when the taller man spoke up.

"He's going to have to come with us," he said.

Good, Blade thought. Maybe in the police station tere would be some semblance of normalcy, where people yelled at thieves instead of cheaking their arms and telling them off when they cursed.

"I'm gonna keep an eye on him," Archie said. He had this smile on him, as if the prospect was fun. Blade didn't quite know whether to trust him more or less.

They began walking, the bigger man right beside him, and the other two were in front of them. Everyone they passed looked at them, an odd pair. Archie was whistling, and Blade hunched up his shoulders in a futile attempt to disappear.

"Oh!" Archie said. He rummaged in one of the shopping bags and took out a small paper bag. "Here," he said, reaching out the bag to a very confused Blade.

It smelled heavenly. It something deep fried, and was that tomatoes? wafting from the bag to his nose, and his stomach did another gurgle. The man laughed, the kind that made him throw his head back. "You're hungry!" he said. Blade would have told him that was rude, but his face was too stuffed with food.

"Right! We haven't told you our names yet," the man said. "I'm Archie, that's Dani," the pointed to the one with the scarf, "And that's Lorenzo," he pointed to the tall man. "We call him Z."

Archie smiled at him. Blade blinked back.

"This is the part where you tell me your name, usually," Archie said.

Blade scowled, or at least tried to. It was hard to look angry and confused at the same time.

"Okay, then," Archie shrugged.

They walked in silence for almost a whole minute.

"I still gotta call you something," Archie said. "Is kid okay? How about... buddy. Rather noir isn't it? What about--"

"Blade," said Blade.

"What?"

"Blade. That's my name," he mumbled, scowling deeper.

"Oh," said Archie. "Oh! That's a good name!"

Blade looked at him with a bit of terror. No one thought it was a good name. Even he didn't think it was a good name sometimes.

But Archie missed that, still whistling softly, looking at the backs of Dani and Lorenzo.

The other two were talking closely, and Blade heard snippets of a conversation about metal arms. They both looked back, and Archie gave them a smile and a wave.

Blade thought against it, but his curiosity got the better of him. "Are you three, uh."

Archie raised an eyebrow.

Blade made a face. "You know."

"Oh!" said Archie. "Yeah!"

Blade felt like Archie expected him to go on, but he didn't. He retreated deeper into his jacket, knowing now that he was intruding on a family.


	2. Soupy

It didn't take long for him to realize that they weren't, in fact, going to the police station. Serves him right, he thought. About time he got kidnapped for his antics. But the again, these three didn't exactly feel like the kidnapping type, not really. What with Dani looking back at him from time to time, trying to pretend that they weren't. All while Lorenzo talked to them about metal arms-- Blade's metal arms, he had begun to realize. Archie, meanwhile, was talking about candied apples, and if he would like one, once they got home.

"Where are we going?" Blade finally asked, ignoring the fact that, yes, candied apples were good, actually.

Archie looked at him, a bit dumbfounded. "Home, of course. I just said that, didn't I, Z?"

Lorenzo looked back at the two of them, shocked out of his technological musings. "Huh?" he asked.

"Where did you think we were taking you?" Dani asked. They sound almost concerned, if he didn't know any better.

"The police?"

"No, silly," Archie said. "There's no food there, and they can't fix your arm. Certainly not as well as Z can."

"Huh," Z said again.

"Oh no, did you think we were going to turn you in?" Dani asked.

"I stole from you!" Blade repeated.

"You weren't doing a very good job," Lorenzo pointed out. "And your arm is broken."

"And you're obviously hungry," said Archie. "We've got some soup at home."

Blade grew quiet, and the other three took that as a sign to keep heading home. Maybe he could use this to his advantage, Blade thought. If they were the type who didn't care about bringing a thief to their house, then maybe he could take something from them without noticing.

All that dwindled when he saw the apartments, cramped and loud and cheap, the part of town that he wouldn't even think of casing, much less steal from.

"Well we're here now," Lorenzo said, after they went up three flights of stairs. He gave Blade a small smile. "It won't take long, we're just gonna fix your arm a bit, then you could go back to whatever it is you were doing."

He unlocked the door. It was a small, of course. There weren't many things lying around that he could fit in his pocket, save for a few pieces of jewelry. A bowl without fruits was on a small table for six people, a kitchen was right behind it, and a sitting room with one sofa and a bookcase. Other than that, they didn't have much.

Lorenzo opened up one of the cabinets, and pulled out a box from the very bottom. It scraped against the floor of the house, and sounded like it was filled with tools.

"Why don't you take a seat for a while," Dani said. "We're going to give you soup!"

There was a couch, fancier than anything else in the room. It was flanked by two worn-looking armchairs, and Blade took the one closest to him.

Archie, his head in the fridge, asked Dani, "Is it this blue Tupperware?"

The two of them, Dani and Archie, were still stealing glances at him. It's not like there was anything to steal here, Blade thought.

Lorenzo appeared back into view. In his hands was a smaller box, which he set at Blade's feet. "Right," he said. "Do you have anywhere to be?" he asked, going through the tools in the box.

A smell wafted from the kitchen to Blade's nose, and he took a sniff. "Is that mushroom soup?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's Dani's favorite," Lorenzo smiled.

"Oh." Then, after a beat, "I don't have anywhere else to be, no."

Lorenzo's smile grew just a bit. "Alright, Im going to look at your arm, okay?"

From the kitchen, Archie and Dani were whispering to ech other. When Blade looked at them, they looked away, pretending that they weren't looking.

Lorenzo turned his arm this way and that. "Tell me if this hurts, okay?" Blade nodded. Lorenzo tapped on the back of his arm. "You don't feel anything?" Lorenzo asked.

"No."

Lorenzo hummed. "Okay. Did you--" he hesitated. "This arm, did you make this yourself?"

Blade quickly withdrew his arm.

"I'm not mad," Lorenzo said. "It's just that... that's very dangerous, you know."

"And illegal," Archie spoke up from the kitchen. Dani elbowed him. "Not that we don't think you should follow the law or anything!"

Dani pinched their nose, chuckling. "What?" Archie asked.

"What Archie means to say is that... what you did here complicates things. This wouldn't be an easy fix. I mean, you basically took things apart, put them back together again, and called in arm." HE doesn't say this disapprovingly. In fact, if Blade knew better, he almost sounded impressed.

"You know what you should have done, though. With hydraulics, you could have used a lighter metal. Or got this cut thinner. It's a very even cut though," Lorenzo said, and Blade tried to keep up. "Did you do it yourself?"

Blade shrugged. "Some of it."

"This is really brilliant." Z paused. "Do you mind if we stayed here for a bit? We're going to have to buy some parts and we can't do that this time of the day."

Blade looked at the small window, at the gold light of the setting sun. There wasn't exactly anyone or anything waiting for him, was there?

"Is my arm going to be stuck like this?" he asked.

"For a while, but--"

"Hey, Blade!" Archie had already removed his prosthetic, and had it in his left hand, raising it up in the air. "Hands free!" he said.

Blade looked at him, and then back again at Lorenzo.

"I guess that's fine," he said.

Lorenzo broke out into a huge smile. "Great! We're having soup for dinner--you're not allergic to mushrooms are you? Because you asked--"

"No," he said. "I like mushrooms," he mumbled.

"Yes! Mushrooms are great. They're great. We should add more," Dani said. "Do we have a can? Are we out?"

"We're out. We'll buy tomorrow, Dee," Lorenzo said.

They all settled into their seats, and waited for him to sit before picking up their utensils. Blade sheepishly took a seat, avoiding the free seat beside Dani, who looked a bit crest-fallen.

"This is really good mushroom," they said nonetheless.

It was a quiet dinner, at least on his end. Archie kept talking about the new curtains they bought, and how it would go perfect with the eggshell white of their bedroom ("Everything goes well with eggshell white, that's why I picked it," Dani pointed out, to which Archie replied with a knowing chuckle), and Z was talking about the rug he saw in the marketplace, and how Dani may want to buy that for him for his birthday... small, mundane things that flit around him and over his head. At least, the talk did.

Every now and then he would notice one of them stealing glances at him. Lorenzo seemed to be concerned about his arm, although Blade thought he was going great eating with his left, thank you very much. Dani inconspicuously moved the bowl of soup an inch closer to him every now and then, or at least they thought they were inconspicuous. Archie was the most obvious of them all, with him giving a small smile whenever he looked at Blade and Blade looked at him (and Lorenzo shot him an exasperated look.)

But they didn't say anything, and he was grateful for that. At least they didn't tell him about it upfront; they sure whispered it between themselves while they did the dishes.

"No," Lorenzo was saying, (Blade struck him to be the type who could be the best one at keeping his voice down, but he wasn't doing a very good job right now), "I am actually telling the truth. We do need to get to it in the morning."

"Whatever you say," Archie replied. "I still think that you're growing fond of the boy."

Lorenzo scoffed.

"Archie's right, I say," Dani said.

"Oh, we've reached a majority now, have we," Archie said, to which Lorenzo replied with a flick of a wrist, sending a few soap suds his way.

The three of them laughed.

Blade tried to look as if he was intently staring at his arm, but he was listening. He was used to the concerned glances, the furtive whispers, but these were something else entirely. For one thing, there was teasing and soap suds.

"You think he's scared of us? I don't want him to think that we're kidnapping him or anything," Dani said.

"Maybe we should talk to him about it. And by me I mean you, Arch. He likes you best."

"I've met him the same time you both did. Not that I'm complaining."

"Everyone likes you best, Arch," Dani said.

They were talking about him, but it felt... different, somehow. He couldn't quite put a finger on it, but he figured that it probably had something to do with the fact that they were laughing. He wasn't used to that, having people laugh around him, instead of at him.

He looked up to see that Archie had asked him a question.

"Huh?" he asked.

"Is it okay if you slept on the couch?" Archie repeated.

Blade looked at the fancy-looking couch behind him. It was old and worn, a simple cream couch that looked cleaner than most of the beds he's slept in lately, if you could even call those beds. The couch was more than okay.

"We'll give you blankets and pillows, of course," Lorenzo added hastily, mistaking his marvel as hesitation.

"But if you don't want the couch--" Dani started.

"The couch is fine," he said. "It's fine."

"How many pillows do you need?" Archie asked. And Blade had to stare at him for a few seconds before realizing that he was completely, and utterly serious.


	3. Not Kidnapping

It was like any other night. It was a completely normal, usual night. There was nothing different about this night, except for the fact that they may have adopted a kid, maybe.

Lorenzo couldn't sleep.

"Dani," he said. "Dani, wake up."

Dani groaned, turned a bit, but stayed asleep. Lorenzo poked them in the shoulder. It was iether them or Archie, and Archie would have had the house burning down before he woke up.

Dani groaned again, this time more awake, and turned to face Lorenzo.

"What is it, Z?" they asked, one eye half-open.

"Sorry for waking you."

"Mhmm," they replied.

"I had a question. About the kid." Lorenzo stopped, pursed his lips. "Actually it's rather dumb. Nevermind."

"No," Dani said, waking up more. "It's okay. Go on."

Lorenzo said, "What if he doesn't like me."

Dani shook their head in their half-asleep state. "Why wouldn't he like you."

Lorenzo shrugged. "I did say it was dumb."

"It's not dumb," Dani said. Then yawned.

"I mean," Lorenzo continued. "You and Archie are you know, sweet. You talk to the boy-- Blade, without problem. Dani, are you asleep."

Dani raised their head in a jolt. "Well, I think you're sweet, Z. You just don't know it." They gave him a sleepy smile. "Besides, I don't think he likes me very much either."

"Oh, Dee-dee."

"I mean, I don't really mind, I think. I want him to like me, but most importantly--" Dani yawned. "I think you want him to like you so you can keep him safe. Because he reminds you of yourself." Dani's brows furrowed. "I think that makes sense. Does that make sense?"

"You're really smart, Dee."

"Mhm, I know."

Lorenzo chuckled and gave them a peck on the forehead. "Thank you, Dani."

They gave him a sleepy smile, and went back to sleep, their face buried against Archie's arm.

Lorenzo lied back down as well, and closed his eyes.

* * *

Blade couldn't sleep. He would like to chalk it up to the fact that it's because the bed is too comfy. And well, sure, that's part of that, but honestly, it's that everything was comfortable. The sofa, the blankets, the pillows, the house. The dishes, dripping on their racks. The occasional muffled voice of a neighbor. The whir of an automobile outside. The wind ruffling the leaves of one of the plants on the windowsill. Was this what home felt like?

He sat up in a jolt. Oh, no. He was being nostalgic.

* * *

Lorenzo couldn't sleep. He tried, he really did, but he's been staring at the ceiling for a good few hours now, Archie and Dani snoring beside him. Sometimes, that worked. Just lying there in the dark, waiting to fall asleep. He was the one who usually slept last, after all, and it wasn't uncommon for him to lie there and think, listening to Dani and Archie sleeping. It was peaceful. But there were some days, days like these, when lying there just wasn't enough.

He sat up. He was making himself tea. That would work, right? Dani suggested it to him a few days back when he really couldn't sleep, and that they had a stash of something fruity hidden in a cupboard. Yes, he thought, root around for the tea tin, brew a cup, and maybe by the time he was done he would be tired enough to go to sleep.

He had the thought of a warm mug when his feet landed on the cold floor. He moved quietly without turning on the light, in a soft, sleepy haze.

Then, he heard it.

It was soft, but he stopped, listening intently for the sound. A scrape against the floors, someone moving in the darkness. Was someone stealing? In an apartment like this? The figure was just at the door, perhaps trying to make its escape--- quiet as a cat Lorenzo grabbed a hand in the darkness and--

"Ow!" the figure in the darkness said.

He knew that voice. "Blade?"

The boy withdrew his hand, the way that sullied teenagers do, as if you had just insulted them. His hand caught the edge of a lamp, which went crashing to the ground.

"Shit," he said under his breath.

"Hey, no cursing," Lorenzo said.

Lorenzo patted the wall and turned on the light. Blade squinted with a groan.

"What are you doing?" Lorenzo asked him.

"I--"

"Z!" Dani exclaimed from the door frame of their bedroom. They were hanging onto Archie, who was rubbing his eyes. It seemed like they had dragged Archie out of bed. Which seemed about right; it was hard imagining Dani investigating something in the dark.

"See, babe." Archie yawned. "I told you it was nothing. It's just Z and Blade doing... what are you doing?"

"That's what I was asking Blade, actually." Lorenzo put a hand on his hip.

"I wasn't doing anything," Blade answered sheepishly.

"Oh no, did our lamp break?" Archie walked over to the lamp. "I like that lamp."

"I'm sorry--"

"Oh, did you break it?"

Blade blinked at him.

"Hey, you don't need to feel bad. It's a very cheap lamp. Looks like we could still salvage the top. The fabric. Babe, what do you call this?" Archie looked at Dani, who shrugged. "Well, whatever you call this, I'm sure Z can figure out a way so we don't have to buy a new one. Right, Z?"

Lorenzo was about to answer that yes, it was a fixable break, had he not noticed that Blade looked... off. He wasn't quite sure what it was that tipped him off. Maybe it was how the kid was dressed or the way he carried himself. Or maybe Lorenzo just knew how it was, in those few years out on the streets.

"Blade," he said, as softly as he could. He may not be as sweet as Dani and Archie, but he can at least try to be kind. "Were you running away?"

Blade froze, avoiding they eyes. Which was hard, since there were a lot of them, and they were all trained on him.

"Oh no," Archie said. "Did we do something wrong?"

"You didn't-- Jeeze, is he always like that?" Blade asked, and he was swiftly met with pointed looks from Dani and Lorenzo. Which answered his question well enough.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"Really, though, is something wrong?" Lorenzo asked. "I mean, we won't stop you if you want to go, but. If you could tell us what's wrong, I'd really like that."

Blade looked at him without meeting his eyes. "I'm sorry," he mumbled.

Lorenzo sighed. He realized that after a long day, he was very tired. Archie was also almost asleep on his post by the lamp, and Dani, despite being the most awake of them, yawned.

"How about," Dani said, "We sit down for a few moments and talk about this. I'll make tea."

Blade mumbled something about shoving tea up someone's something.

"I get that that's supposed to be insulting but it didn't make sense," Dani said.

He groaned. "I said I would like tea," he said, and slouched to the table.

* * *

Dani opened some cupboards. "What kind of tea do you want?" they asked. "We don't really have a lot, to be honest, most of these are gifts, but um."

Dani looked back at him, waiting for an answer. Blade just looked at them with a blank stare.

"Hm, you look like an Earl Grey," they said, picking out a box. "Z, I have some of the fruity ones I told you about-- Oh, Archie," they said with a small laugh.

Archie was almost asleep on Lorenzo's shoulder as they sat on the table.

"He says he doesn't want to go back to bed," Lorenzo explained.

Archie shot up in a jolt. "I want tea," he said decisively.

"Okay, baby. I'll get you the fruity ones like Lorenzo."

"And the kid needs parental supervision," mumbled Archie.

Blade pretended not to hear that, and thanked the fact that no one else commented. He watched the three of them for a while, trying to get a hold of... everything. Dani was heating water, pouring it onto cups. Lorenzo was patting Archie's head, trying to keep them awake. Occasionally there would be a joke-- what was going on? Too soon the water tea was ready and he had a teacup in front of him. Dani pushed it towards him the same way they did with the soup.

"Go on, take a small sip. I like mine with a bit of milk," they smiled.

Blade picked it up-- it smelled nice, actually. And it was nice to hold something warm.

"Careful, it's a bit hot," Dani said.

It was hot, and bitter, but he kept sipping it past the point he decided that it probably needed milk. Dani's smile grew wider.

"Do you like it?" they asked.

Blade nodded. It was good, actually. "I think I'd like some milk," he said softly.

Dani pushed the milk closer to him. Knowing that they were all looking at him, he poured it slowly.

"Do you still want to talk?" Dani asked, breaking the silence. "We don't have to, we could just have our tea and go back to bed, but I would really liek it if you don't go out at this hour."

"I mean, we won't stop you, but it's not very friendly out there, at this hour," Lorenzo said.

Blade didn't want to tell them that he had been in fact, out at this hour plenty of times already. But it wasn't exactly an argument. And for some surprising reason, there was a part of him that didn't want to disappoint these three people who had given him tea.

"You're welcome here, Blade," Archie said, with surprising coherence, all while adding the fourth spoon of sugar in his cup. "You're okay here."

He then took his cup and downed it in one go, to both Lorenzo and Dani's horror. "Good tea!" he announced, and fell asleep on Lorenzo's shoulder.

"You three should sleep," Blade said. "I'll... go back to bed after my tea."

"Okay, Blade," Dani said, picking up their empty teacups and putting them on the sink. "Just leave your cup here, I'll take care of them in the morning."

"Okay," he replied.

"Goodnight, Blade," Archie mumbled.

"See you in the morning," Z said, smiling.

Dani looked at him as if they wanted to say something. "Goodnight," they said instead, and closed the door.

Blade took his time finishing his cup, listening to the sound of the ships, the house, the wind outside the windows. Then, he put his cup in the sink right next to the three other cups.

He settled himself between the sheets, where it was warm and soft. And, for the first time in a long time, he fell into a long and gentle sleep.


End file.
